From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FREEMAIL_FROM, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,ddc669e8cf09b24 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-07-11 12:36:29 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!wn13feed!wn12feed!wn14feed!worldnet.att.net!216.166.71.14!border3.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!intern1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nntp.gbronline.com!news.gbronline.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:36:27 -0500 Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:36:28 -0500 From: Wesley Groleau Reply-To: wesgroleau@despammed.com Organization: Ain't no organization here! User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en, es-mx, pt-br, fr-ca MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Debugger Rant (was Re: How to debug an Ada program) References: <254c16a.0307110505.463b1cc0@posting.google.com> In-Reply-To: <254c16a.0307110505.463b1cc0@posting.google.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.117.18.85 X-Trace: sv3-mJLmxjvESgOrp53EgrHlozrMsEmudSHKFCZgBdZmIokhJ5bOanOz2fWrcrtzVX7r5PzbmAD23c9GQ9V!5PvSqBDmAxzSnZBWObVqA5bWPCU+1q/PauTMoH1uhskuYEZs6pI3+d3b7fqSEUQs1kU/oDO5k3Pd!gbFq X-Complaints-To: abuse@gbronline.com X-DMCA-Complaints-To: abuse@gbronline.com X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.1 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:40202 Date: 2003-07-11T14:36:28-05:00 List-Id: Marc A. Criley wrote: > Based on my experience helping other developers debug their code, I've > found a disconcertedly common trend when it comes to using debuggers. > Very few know how to use one effectively--and this goes not just for > Ada programmers, but programmers in general. The most common > perception of a debugger I've seen held by programmers is that it's > for single-stepping through code and setting breakpoints; and for the > advanced user, examining variables. On several occasions when > assisting other developers I've opened up the raw memory display > window, or even (gasp!) the register or disassembly windows, and the > look on the programmer's face is utter incomprehension (which may also Well, I could say all of the same things, BUT I can also say there have been numerous occasions where a description of the symptoms and a glance at the source code have enabled me to identify the problem. There are just so many more things that can go wrong in a C program that won't happen in Ada. And there have been more than a few occasions where invoking the debugger makes the problem go away! And there have been occasions where the debugger added a problem or deceived us by not telling the truth about the value of an entity, or getting the address wrong on an interactive assignment. > Considering a debugger to be superfluous to Ada programming deprives > one of a very powerful tool. Unless all you're ever going to do is True.